FARMVILLE, Va. — Senior Jen Crawford (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) made sure the Wildcats’ season would continue by scoring the go-ahead goal with 2:39 left in the game to send Davidson to the National Lacrosse Conference finals after a 10-9 victory over Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon on the campus of Longwood University.

The ‘Cats rolled to their third straight win, and fourth in the last five games, to improve to 9-8. They will face Longwood (9-8) in the finals tomorrow, May 2, at 2 p.m. The Lancers are in the NLC finals for the second year in a row.

“I’m very proud of the team for accomplishing what they did today,” said head coach Kim Wayne. “They believed in themselves and they believed in each other. Jacksonville is a strong team, and beating a team like that two times in a row is a difficult task.” Davidson earlier this season won a 17-12 battle with the Dolphins at Richardson Stadium.

Of Crawford’s team-high four goals, her last two were the most important. Her third goal, a spinning wrap around goal, tied things up at 8-all with 10:46 remaining and then she netted the game-winner with under three minutes left in the game. Her third score set a new single-season school record for goals with 47, breaking Amanda Fleck’s 46 set during 1997. The senior added an assist to push her season points total to 60, one away from Linda Rothemund’s record 61 during the 1999 campaign.

“Jen had an outstanding game despite being face-guarded all day,” said Wayne. “She played off of her teammates and never gave up. For her, scoring the goal which brought the game to 8-8 was crucial. It helped her regain composure and allowed her to keep the attack together.”

The game came down to the wire after Jacksonville (7-11) turned a 5-3 halftime deficit into an 8-7 lead with 15:46 remaining. The Dolphins came out of halftime scoring a pair of goals in the 26th minute to knot things up at 5-all.

The Wildcats would twice take back the lead at 6-5 and 7-6 on goals from Emily Rahill (Ridgewood, N.J.) and Keena Classen (Baltimore, Md.), but the Dolphins answered each goal with one of their own setting up the final thrilling minutes of the game.

Davidson’s defense saved its best plays of the afternoon for the closing seconds. JU had a chance to knot things up at 10-apiece with 1:26 left, but Michelle Pav (Golden, Colo.) speared Ellyn Spangerberg’s free-position shot out of the air. Pav finished with eight saves in the winning effort.

Then after a Wildcat turnover with 57 ticks left, freshman Erin McGuire (Bishopville, Md.) made a huge defensive play by forcing Spangerberg to turn the ball over with 33 seconds left. All afternoon, McGuire had her hand in every play as she finished with a goal, a career-high six groundballs and a pair of caused turnovers.

“Erin led the team in every aspect of the game today,” said Wayne. “She was our heart and soul, and it’s because of her hustle and determination that we were able to take the lead and then maintain possession of the ball in the closing minutes.”

Davidson dominated the first half on the stat sheet as it doubled up Jacksonville in shots with 22 and groundballs with 12. The ‘Cats finished the game with 35 shots and 22 groundballs.

But, Jacksonville never backed down as its defense led by goalie Karli Tobin played very well. Tobin picked up 11 first-half saves and held the ‘Cats to just 2-of-6 on free-position shots. Tobin finished with 18 saves on the game.

The senior duo of Crawford and Rahill found holes though in the Dolphin defense, helping lead the ‘Cats to a 5-3 halftime lead. Crawford and Rahill each scored twice in the half, while McGuire tacked on the fifth score.

JU was led by Sarah Michel and Megan Lusby with three and two goals, respectively.

“Tomorrow’s game against Longwood will be a tough one,” said Wayne. “However, if we come out like we did today, and fight for the entire 60 minutes, I truly believe that this team is capable of anything and I’m confident that this team will come out ready and well-prepared to battle all the way until the end.”